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A Simple Explanation for Why HP Abandoned Palm

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Re: A Simple Explanation for Why HP Abandoned Palm

#91

Post by Retric »

Gustomaximus wrote: post #80
cletus wrote: post #3

I tend to agree with the basic reasoning but there's one thing I don't understand. Why cancel the TouchPad? Why not just spin that out with the hardware business to Compaq (which is the idea, yes?)? It seems they've devalued that unit by killing WebOS. All PC makers are on razor thin margins... apart from Apple. A post from yesterday [1] painted an interesting picture where Dell, through a series of seemingly rationa…

> All PC makers are on razor thin margins... I keep hearing this but then think I saved 30% by building my own PC so it doesn't ring true. Also I would expect HP to get parts at least 10-20% cheaper than a consumer increasing this margin. And the time assembling is not that much to warrant additional costs. Maybe because I have a high end rig there are some margins here... but in this context it feels like there are…

Falcon-nw sells high end PC's with vary healthy margins, however they don't sell a lot of PC's. Alieanware (now part of dell) sells mid range to high end PC's with ok margins. Dell a lot of sells low to mid range PC's with crap margins, but they make good margins on their support contracts.

Re: A Simple Explanation for Why HP Abandoned Palm

#92

Post by dr_ »

Just because Hurd decided to bet big on WebOS - it doesn't mean that bet was ever going to pay off. Gruber is correct and HP and Apotheker are going along with their plan as intended. The tablet/phone business was a long shot and their PC business over time was going to get weaker, they don't own the OS and hardware is tough to compete in with Chinese manufacturers. Their best shot at long term survival was enterprise software, and that's what they are doing. Perhaps they could come up with some kind of enterprise solution for WebOS in the future, but it's probably not their focus right now.

Re: A Simple Explanation for Why HP Abandoned Palm

#93

Post by Anti-Ratfish »

blinkingled wrote: post #41
acangiano wrote: post #22

I think his interpretation of the facts is very plausible. Sadly, Larry Ellison was absolutely right when he said, at the time of Hurd's scandal, "the HP Board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple Board fired Steve Jobs many years ago." Good CEOs who can revamp stagnant companies are hard to come by, particularly in the consumer space. Hurd was that CEO, Apotheker is not. And getting o…

Firing Hurd was the right thing to do - I will argue that they were late. Hurd was seen as aligning with Oracle and making decisions that did not conflict with Oracle. EDS, conveniently missed Sun acquisition, consumer focus in lieu of enterprise paints a consistent picture. There is a reason Hurd now works at Oracle and Larry did not like him getting fired. Besides show me what he did apart from cost cutting. Apothe…

A bit nitpicky, but Im not sure I'd describe the phone/tablet market as saturated. It just isn't open to HP.

Re: A Simple Explanation for Why HP Abandoned Palm

#94

Post by allertonm »

bradleyland wrote: post #84
allertonm wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps so, but in this case you don't have to look too closely. Autonomy & SAP have similar customers , true. But the suggestion in Gruber's post is that the purchase of Autonomy is a substitute for a purchase of SAP. Which is a bit like saying the purchase of a front drivers side door mirror is a substitute for the purchase of a car. (Downvotes too, jeez.)

I'm stating this earnestly to try and explain why I think you're receiving a negative reaction. You'll chose how to take it. I sincerely mean no offense by it. You're being downvoted because you are arguing a point that no one is making. No one is saying that SAP and Autonomy are in the same business. It's almost like you're choosing not to get it, just so you can talk about the differences between SAP and Autonomy.…

I don't have downvoting capability, otherwise I'd downvote you for condescension.

Gruber's a great writer for the most part, but this particular instance of his work is pretty trite and hardly a unique observation. His lack of knowledge about the players in the space should give a clue to readers about how much weight to give the rest of his insights about this subject.

Re: A Simple Explanation for Why HP Abandoned Palm

#95

Post by chalst »

nikcub wrote: post #19

The HP board made the decision, and I am surprised that nobody has yet made the link between Andreessen's editorial in the WSJ (he sits on the HP board) and this recent shakeup.

Links, since I looked for them myself:

1. Why software is eating the world, 20th August. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405311190348090457651...

2. HN thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2905410

Re: A Simple Explanation for Why HP Abandoned Palm

#96

Post by Anti-Ratfish »

allertonm wrote: post #94
bradleyland wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm stating this earnestly to try and explain why I think you're receiving a negative reaction. You'll chose how to take it. I sincerely mean no offense by it. You're being downvoted because you are arguing a point that no one is making. No one is saying that SAP and Autonomy are in the same business. It's almost like you're choosing not to get it, just so you can talk about the differences between SAP and Autonomy.…

I don't have downvoting capability, otherwise I'd downvote you for condescension. Gruber's a great writer for the most part, but this particular instance of his work is pretty trite and hardly a unique observation. His lack of knowledge about the players in the space should give a clue to readers about how much weight to give the rest of his insights about this subject.

I don't get it. The bit that is contentious is so far from the point of his post that it's not of importance. Why be bothered by it?

Re: A Simple Explanation for Why HP Abandoned Palm

#99

Post by agilemanic »

daimyoyo wrote: post #98

It's really too bad. I really wanted webOS to gain some traction but now that HP has all but killed it, it seems incredibly unlikely that webOS will be anything more than a footnote in history.

same here. I really liked webOS and thought about buying a Pre, but it was just too small. That's why I was looking forward to the Touchpad. Big screen and a very nice OS :-/
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